■ adverb
1》 and no one or nothing more besides.
↘no longer ago than.
↘not until.
2》 with the negative or unfortunate result that.
■ adjective alone of its or their kind; single or solitary.
↘alone deserving consideration.
■ conjunction informal except that.
Phrases
~ just
1》 by a very small margin.
2》 very recently.
~ too —— to an extreme or regrettable extent.
Origin
OE ānlic (see one , -ly 1 ).
Usage
The traditional view is that, to avoid ambiguity, you should place the adverb ~ next to the word or words whose meaning it restricts: I have seen him ~ once rather than I have ~ seen him once . In practice, people tend to state ~ as early as possible in the sentence, generally just before the verb, and the result is rarely ambiguous.